Manufacture of casein by means of gyratory motion applied to an inclined screen



Feb- 4, 1947- E. J. WENDT MANUFACTURE 0F CASEIN BY MEANS OF GYRATORY MOTION APPLIED T0 AN INCLINED SCREEN Filed Sept. 26. 1942 SEPARATOR mOSnIn. mwmmm iinlluiiiiiinn TO STORAGE TO SEPARATOR FIG.

Eward J. wend# INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY smaller particle size.

Patented Feb. 4, 1947 MANUFACTURE OF OASEIN BY MEANS OF GYRATORY MOTION APPLIED TO AN IN- CLIN ED SCREEN Edward J.' Wendt, Elmy, wis., assignmto Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application september 2s, 1942, serial No. 459,863 Y Ihis invention relates to the manufacture of casein and more particularly to an improved ap-l paratus and process for such manufacture.

Heretofore it has been customary to precipitate milk by the addition of suitable precipitants thereto, thus forming a mass ofwhey and relatively large lumps of casein together with a substantial portion of extremely line particles of casein. Prior practice l'as involved the separation of the Whey from the relatively large lumps Most of the very fine particles ofcasein have stayed in suspension inthe whey of casein.

and have been removed therewith. Loss of casein in this manner reduces the elciency of the process. Attempts have been made to recover the suspended extremely nue particles of casein by passing the whey into a settling tank where it is allowed to settle for some hours or days whereupon more or less unsatisfactory eiorts have been made Vto recover the settled casein.

Similar dilculties have been met with in connection with the wash water used for washing the casein after it was separated from the Whey. Thus the washing of the relatively large lumps of casein inevitably results in the suspension of the very ne particles of casein in the water Other objects will more fully hereinafter ap- Dear. l

In the accompanying drawing there is illustrated one form of apparatus which' has been found to be satisfactory for carrying out therecovery method of the present invention. In .the drawing: e'

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly in section of the entire apparatus.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1. i

In accordance with the present invention the precipitated casein is received ina whey separator which may be of any conventional type, wherein a screen or perforated plate catches the larger casein particles and allows whey to pass, carrying with it the suspended casein nes of 4 Claims. (Cl. 210-149)' 'I'he whey together with the suspended casein particles passes out of the whey separator by way of pipe I0 which is connected to a gyratorysifting device. Pipe I0 has a flexible coupling II which is coupled to the cover I2 of the sifting pan I3. The cover I2 is detachably mounted by means o clamps I4 to the pan I3 of the gyratory sifting device.

The gyratory sifter comprises support members I6 on which is mounted an electric motor Il which drives the eccentric or unbalancing member I8 thus causing the mesh sieve Iamounted xedly in the bottom ofV the pan I3 to gyrate or vibrate at high speed, say 900 gyrations or vibrations per minute. The size of the mesh in the sieve may vary but a Number 200 mesh sieve has been found desirable. Screen sizes are indicated in the present specication, and. in the appended claims, in accordance with the United States Bureau of Standards, Standard Screen Series designations. V

The whey passes through the gyrating mesh sieve I9 and is collected by the catch basin 2| from which it may be pumped to storage or to waste.

By tilting the pan I3 and the sieve ISI in the manner shown, preferably at an angle approaching 5 to the vertical. the fines collecting on the sieve I9 gradually travel around the circumference of the screen in the direction of rotation of the motor and collect to a greater extent on the high sides of the pan I3, at which side nes with a relatively small amount of whey areA continuously collected by flat plate 22 and removed by overowing through a discharge tube 23 which has a dexible coupling 24 to allow for the gyratory movement. This fluid mixture of lines is passed by way of pump 25 back into the whey separator or directly toa drier or storage.

The fines are somewhat clotted and pressed together b'y the action of the gyrating sifter and the pump and are thus easily picked up in the whey separator by adhesion to the large lumps of curd which have just been precipitated and introduced into the whey separator. Freshly precipitated casein is continuously introduced into the whey separator where it 'commingles with the returned clotted lines. 'I'hus the nes which are continuously produced during processinglof 'the curd are removed from the whey and put back into the production line, and are removed by adhesion to the large lumps of casein which 'have just been precipitated but have notfyetlbeexi;

pressed or washed.

In order `to prevent -occasional clogging of pump 25 by the entry into it of a particularly 3 i large amount of solids, a small amount of screened whey may be bled into the solids at a 'point ahead of the pump by means of valve 26.

Instead of using whey as the material passed through the gyratory sifting device, the invention may be applied as well to removing casein fines from wash water or to the liquid from the casein curd press.

.The separation of iine particles of other types of proteins, such as soya bean proteinor cheese, may be accomplished by this process and apparatus.

The present process could be carried out in other types of ,apparatus but the one herein described is particularly adaptable.

. The present invention is particularly advantageous because it eliminates the use of settling tanks for the recovery of casein lines, which results in lower labor cost for handling settlings, more satisfactory recovery, and in the elimination of the production of low quality casein which ensues when casein nes are recovered by means of the conventional settling tanks due ,will be at once apparent to those skilled in the art.

'What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is;

1. An apparatus for the separation of fine particles from a liquid comprising a means for causing gyratory motion, a closedA pan attached to said gyratory means, an inlet for liquid to the interior of, said pan, a fine mesh screenv in the bottom of said pan tilted from uthe horizontal, an outlet in the pan at the highest point on the screen and a catch basin under the pan to collect the liquid.

2. An apparatus'for the separationof very fine particles from a liquid comprising a means for .veryl causing gyratory motion, a closed pan attached to said gyratory means, an inlet for liquid to the interior of said pan, a ne mesh screen in Number Name Date 1,413,672 Lowe Apr. 25,` 1922 2,184,002 Pagel Dec. 19, 1939 2,066,364 Rafton Jan. 5,' 1937 2,089,548 Frantz et al Aug. 10, 1937 2,251,909 Lindsay Aug. 12, 1941 2,036,397 Clarke'et al Apr. 7, 1936 1,607,013 Meyerhofer Nov. 16, 1926 v1,392,345 Lowe Oct. 4, 1921 f 1,465,931 Collins Aug. 28, .1923

2,209,694 Harford July 30, 1940 FOREIGN VPATENTS Number Country Date 254,233 German Nov. 27,1912

the bottom of said pan tilted at an angle from the horizontal, a means at the higher edge of said screen adapted to remove the tine particles continuously, and a catch basin under the pan to collect the liquid,

3. An apparatus for the separation of very tine particles from a liquid comprising a means for causing gyratory motion, a closed pan attached to said gyratory means, an inlet for liquid to the interior of said pan, a ilne mesh screen in the bottom of said pan tilted at an angle from the horizontal, a flat plate at the higher edge of said screen adapted to collect the ilne particles continuously, outlet means adapted t0 remove the collected fine particles from the closed pan,

screen in the bottoml of said pan tilted at anan-` gle from the horizontal, a ilat plate at the higher y edge of said screen adapted `to remove the tine particles continuously, and a catch Abasin under the pan` to collect the liquid.

' EDWARD'J. WENDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

